The Devil You Know
The Devil You Know is the only studio album from heavy metal band Heaven and Hell; the members had previously recorded as a group in an earlier line-up of Black Sabbath. |publisher= Allmusic |accessdate=March 8, 2009}} The Devil You Know was Ronnie James Dio's final studio appearance prior to his death in May 2010. The album's US import was released in Japan on April 24, 2009, four days earlier than its original due date of April 28. The Japan domestic pressing which is a SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) was released on 27 April. It was produced by the band and sound engineer Mike Exeter. The Devil You Know reached the top 10 in its first week of release, debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200 chart, with 30,000 copies sold. Conception In 2006 the Ronnie James Dio-era Black Sabbath line-up recorded three new tracks, "The Devil Cried", "Shadow of the Wind", and "Ear in the Wall" for an upcoming greatest hits package entitled Black Sabbath: The Dio Years. Guitarist Tony Iommi said that the tracks were created because he felt there was nothing worthwhile releasing in the vaults from the Dio-era studio recordings and so these new songs were written and recorded. The song "The Devil Cried" was released as a promotional single for the release. Initially Dio commented that after the recording of those songs, he expected to leave the band and return to Dio and that another "Sabbath album" was "the last thing on my mind". Iommi commented that Heaven & Hell agreed on an album whilst the band was in Japan on their 2007 tour. The band started work on the album before and after the Metal Masters Tour in Dio and Iommi's houses respectively. Each member submitted CDs of material for the project. Iommi has described the work so far as being "really good, pretty powerful". Title and art The album artwork is adapted from a painting by Per Øyvind Haagensen entitled Satan. The artwork features the numbers 25 and 41. Geezer Butler stated in an interview that the numbers refer to the Bible verse Matthew 25:41, which deals with the Last Judgment where "those who sit at the left side of God are cast down into Hell". He also has explained that the name of the album is a reference to the name of the band, as fans know them as Black Sabbath. When finalising the cover art, the band narrowed it down to their two favourites but had a difficult time making a final decision. The second of those two favourites prominently features the traditional Black Sabbath devil logo. That alternative cover is available exclusively at Wal-Mart within the United States. Touring Heaven & Hell embarked on a second international tour (after their 2007 tour) in support of The Devil You Know. The band's first scheduled date was in Bogota on 5 May 2009. They were supported by progressive rock acts Coheed and Cambria and The Mars Volta on North America for a select number of shows in August 2009. Track listing All songs written and composed by Ronnie James Dio, Tony Iommi, and Geezer Butler, except where noted. ;iTunes exclusive bonus tracks Personnel ;Heaven & Hell *Ronnie James Dio – vocals *Tony Iommi – guitar *Geezer Butler – bass guitar *Vinny Appice – drums, percussion * Mike Exeter – keyboards ;Production *Produced by Dio, Iommi, and Butler, with additional production by Mike Exeter *Recorded by Mike Exeter *Mixing and additional recording by Wyn Davis, assisted by Mike Sutherland and Adam Arnold *Mastered by Stephen Marcussen *Art direction and design by Masaki Koike *Cover illustration by Per Øyvind Haagensen *Photograph by Chapman Baehler *Etchings by Johann Koch References External links *Heaven & Hell official website *Heaven & Hell at Metal Archives Category:2009 albums